Cured Duck With Braised Red Cabbage And Asparagus Food

BALSAMIC-BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Brown 1/3 cup diced pancetta in olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat until crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. Add 1 pound sliced red cabbage, 1 sliced red onion, 1/2 teaspoon each fennel seeds and kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring, until tender, 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and top with parsley.

DUCK WITH RED CABBAGE & MADEIRA GRAVY

Steps:

• At least 24 hours before serving, mix the salt, pepper and herbs, except the thyme sprigs, in a large bowl. Add the duck legs and rub in the herby salt until well coated. Cover and leave overnight or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
• Next day, wipe the salty mixture from the duck legs and place them in a single, tight-fitting layer in the base of a pan. Add the bay leaves from the bowl and pour over the goose fat. If it doesn't cover the duck, top up with the groundnut oil. Cook over the lowest possible heat for 2½ hours, so the fat barely bubbles. The duck skin should be creamy rather than golden once cooked. Transfer the legs to a bowl and strain in the fat, pushing the duck under until fully submerged. (The duck can now be chilled and refrigerated for up to 1 month.)
• While the duck is cooking (or up to 2 days ahead of the meal), make the madeira gravy and cabbage. For the gravy, melt the butter in a small pan, add the shallots and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring until golden. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring all the time, until the flour browns - take care not to let it burn. Whisk in the stock and continue whisking over the heat until slightly thickened. Add the madeira and cook for 2 minutes more. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. (The gravy can now be cooled and chilled for up to 2 days.)
• For the cabbage, scoop 2 tbsp of the goose fat from the duck as it cooks (if making at another time use olive oil) and put into a medium pan. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened. Tip in the juniper berries and cabbage and cook over a fairly high heat until the cabbage starts to soften. Stir in the vinegar, orange juice, raisins and redcurrant jelly. Cover and leave to cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and then until tender. (Cool and chill for up to 2 days if making ahead.)
• On the day, preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Remove the duck legs from the fat and wipe away any excess with kitchen paper. Put the duck on a wire rack in a roasting tin and top each leg with a sprig of thyme. Roast for 10 minutes, then add the creamy wild mushroom potatoes to the oven (see recipe, below) and cook with the duck for 30 minutes, or until the duck skin is golden. Meanwhile, reheat the cabbage and gravy in separate pans until piping hot.
• To serve, put a generous spoonful of cabbage on serving plates and sit the duck legs on top. Spoon round the gravy and serve with the potatoes. For a green vegetable, quickly stir fry some sugar snaps.

BRAISED DUCK WITH RED CURRY

Steps:

• Bone ducks and remove the skin. (You can ask a butcher to do this, reserving the carcass for stock making and skin for rendering.) Cut breasts in half, then into about 3 pieces across the width. Chop legs and thighs into about 4 pieces each. (Remember: You want to start with generous pieces of meat, since they will shrink when cooked. Don't worry about cleaning the tendons, since they will soften with long cooking.) Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.
• Heat rendered fat in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven over high heat. Brown duck on all sides, then transfer meat to a platter. Reduce heat to medium low and cook shallots until well browned, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, increase heat to medium high and cook about a minute, then add curry paste. Cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Return duck meat to pot along with brown duck stock and cook at a slow simmer, uncovered, until meat is tender, about 40 minutes.
• With a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a platter and reserve in a warm place. Puree sauce in a blender and strain back into pot. Cook over high heat until liquid is reduced by one third. Stir in fish sauce, coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice, and remove from heat. Stir duck back into warm sauce. Ladle stew over Jasmine Rice. Garnish with remaining ingredients and serve immediately.

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Cook the bacon until crisp, over medium heat in a large Dutch, that has a lid, about 4 minutes. Add the onions, cinnamon, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 8 minutes.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, add the cabbage and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 8 minutes. Add the apple, broth, vinegar, sugar, the remaining salt, and pepper, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender, about 1 hour.
• Uncover; bring to a boil, and cook, stirring, until the liquid has reduced to a sauce-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.
• Copyright (c) 2004 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.

CURED DUCK WITH BRAISED RED CABBAGE AND ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Combine sugar, salt, garlic, rosemary and thyme and cover the duck evenly. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Place cured duck in a roasting pan and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until leg bone twists free with ease. Let duck cool, de-bone and julienne meat. Thinly slice the cabbage. In a pot add cabbage, jalapeno peppers, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, dry mustard, black pepper, salt, celery salt and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer, turning and stirring often for 20 minutes.
• Blanch the asparagus in boiling water until tender and immediately shock in ice water bath. Reheat the duck, cabbage and asparagus and plate. Garnish with rosemary and sprig.

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Rinse cabbage under cold water, then drain (do not pat dry).
• Cook bacon in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, reserving it for another use. Add butter to bacon fat, then increase heat to moderate and cook onions, stirring, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in cabbage, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 1 1/4 hours.

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Quarter the red cabbage and remove the core, then finely shred. Tip into a large pan with the red onion, brown sugar, cider vinegar, red wine, butter and cinnamon stick and season well. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid, lower the heat and cook for 1 1/ 2 hrs, stirring every so often. Remove the lid and continue cooking for 30 mins until tender. Will keep for two days, or can be frozen for two months. Reheat until piping hot.

ONE-PAN DUCK WITH SAVOY CABBAGE

Steps:

• Lightly score the skin of the duck breasts, then generously season with the peppercorns and a sprinkling of salt. Lay the duck breasts, skin-side down, in a non-stick sauté pan, then place over a low heat. Leave the duck for 15 mins to brown and release its fat, then flip over onto the flesh side for 5 mins.
• Remove the duck from the pan, then turn up the heat. Add the potatoes to the pan, fry until brown and crisp, then scatter over the parsley and garlic. Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, then season with salt.
• Keep the pan on the heat. Fry the bacon until crisp, then add the cabbage. Cook for 1 min, add a splash of water, then fry for 2 mins, just until the cabbage is wilted. While the cabbage is cooking, whisk any juices from the duck with the vinegar and olive oil. To serve, carve the duck breast into slices. Fan out on large dinner plates, spoon a neat bundle of cabbage on one side, then pile a serving of potatoes on the other. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.